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PHP 8 reference · Array Functions

PHP count() Function

Return the number of elements in an array or Countable object. With COUNT_RECURSIVE it also counts nested elements.

PHP 8 Since 4.0

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Syntax

count(Countable|array $value, int $mode = COUNT_NORMAL): int

Parameters

ParameterDescription
value An array or a Countable object.
mode optional COUNT_RECURSIVE also counts the elements of nested arrays. Default: COUNT_NORMAL

Return value

The number of elements.

Examples

Count elementsTry it yourself
<?php
$fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"];
echo count($fruits), "\n";
echo count([]), "\n";

Output

3
0
Nested arraysTry it yourself
<?php
$menu = ["drinks" => ["tea", "coffee"], "food" => ["cake"]];
echo count($menu), "\n";
echo count($menu, COUNT_RECURSIVE), "\n"; // 2 groups + 3 items

Output

2
5
Not for stringsTry it yourself
<?php
try {
    count("hello");
} catch (TypeError $e) {
    echo "TypeError: use strlen() for strings\n";
}

Output

TypeError: use strlen() for strings

sizeof() is an alias of count(). Calling count() in a loop condition is cheap: PHP stores an array's size.

Version history

VersionChange
PHP 4.0Added
PHP 8.0Throws a TypeError for values that aren't arrays or Countable; before, it warned and returned 1.

In other languages

  • strlen() · Return the length of a string in bytes. Multibyte characters such as é count as several bytes; use mb_strlen() to count characters.
  • array_count_values() · Count how many times each value occurs in an array, returning value => count pairs.
  • array_key_last() · Return the last key of an array without moving its internal pointer, or null for an empty array. Added in 7.3.
  • PHP Arrays · tutorial
  • PHP Array Functions · tutorial

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